1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement on a clutch facing of a clutch disk, used in an automobile, for connecting and disconnecting power transmission, and particularly relates to a resin mold clutch facing having lower specific gravity, high strength, and good friction and anti-wear properties at a high temperature.
2. Discussion of the Background
An automobile employs a clutch facing as one of the components of a clutch disk for connecting and disconnecting the power transmission between the engine and the gearbox.
As the clutch facing, a resin mold clutch facing, a woven clutch facing, and a semi-mold clutch facing are known.
The resin mold clutch facing is formed by heating and pressurizing the following materials after mixing and filling the materials in a mold. The materials are an inorganic fiber, such as asbestos, a carbon fiber, and a glass fiber, or a composite fiber in which an organic fiber like a polyamide fiber is compounded in said inorganic fiber, a thermosetting resin as a binder, a rubber, a vulcanizing agent, and a friction regulating agent.
The woven clutch facing is formed by heating and pressurizing a matrix after cutting the matrix into pieces having an appropriate shape and laminating the pieces into a desired circle configuration. The matrix is a felt-shaped, a mat-shaped, or a woven-shaped aforementioned fiber. A liquid mixture of a thermosetting resin as a binder, a rubber, a vulcanizing agent, and a friction regulating agent is impregnated into the matrix.
The semi-mold clutch facing is formed also by heating and pressurizing after treating the aforementioned materials as follows. The aforementioned fiber is made into a string shape. A liquid mixture including a binder is impregnated into the string shaped fiber. The string shaped fiber is wound in a spiral shape, and molded into a desired shape.
We, the inventors of the present invention, had proposed an improvement on a friction component member of a resin mold clutch facing under Japanese Patent Application No. 202188/1986, now Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 57930/1988. The resin mold clutch facing showed a reduced attack tendency against the mating component by employing a matrix whose surface is covered with an inorganic filler and a rubber.
We had also proposed under Japanese Patent Application No. 204655/1986, now Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 62925/1988 that a friction component member having an improved friction coefficient and a reduced attack tendency against the mating component could be obtained by adding zirconium silicate by from 0.1 to 0.5 volume % as one of the inorganic filler components.
We had further proposed under Japanese Patent Application No. 214527/1986, now Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 69833/1988 that a manufacturing process for a friction component member having an improved anti-wear property and fading property, in which grinding was not a required operation. In the manufacturing process, the following materials were heat-molded under a pressure of from 200 to 400 kgf/cm.sup.2 and then heat-treated. The materials were a matrix fiber having a fiber diameter of 50 micrometers or less, a resin binder, an organic material like a rubber, and an inorganic filler having a grain diameter of 50 micrometers or less. The composition ratio of the organic material flowing during the molding operation was from 20 to 30% by volume based on 100% by volume of the total friction component member contained in the composition.
We intend to provide a clutch facing having a further reduced weight and improved friction property in the present invention.